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McDonald’s of the Greater Bay Area invited three well-known Bay Area chefs to use the very same ingredients you would find in your local McDonald’s to create a one-night-only gourmet dining experience to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bay Area and Harvest from the Heart. The event, held at the California Culinary Academy, showcased McDonald’s high-quality ingredients through unexpected and innovative recipes and presentation.

“We are thrilled to be able to share the message of our high-quality ingredients in an unexpected way to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bay Area. It is true that many of the ingredients found in our restaurants are the same you’d find in your own refrigerator including the more than $375 million of California agricultural products purchased by McDonald’s in 2011,” says Crystal Sawyer, McDonald’s USA Pacific Sierra Region marketing director.

Dishes at the event included a Chilled Roast Tomato Soup Sip and Three-cheese Panini made with McDonald’s tomatoes and cheeses, a 24-Hour Braised Mickey D’s Sugo including gnocchi created from McDonald’s hash browns, and a Chocolate Hazelnut Chess Pie that used poached strawberries and an ice cream cone crust.

“I was excited to participate in this event so that I could put my creativity to the test and design three unexpected and enjoyable courses,” says Chef Ryan Scott, executive chef of Market & Rye in San Francisco and “Top Chef” Season 4 contender. “The quality and variety of available McDonald’s ingredients really allowed all the chefs to create inventive dishes worthy of any of our restaurants while supporting great causes.”

The chefs had access to the full range of quality ingredients used in McDonald’s restaurants to create their three-course menu. The multi-course dinner highlighted McDonald’s 100 percent USDA-inspected beef with no fillers or preservatives, white meat chicken and quality ingredients used in restaurants everyday such as USDA Grade A eggs, dozens of types of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, blueberries, and milk.

A donation was made on behalf of each guest in attendance, which adds to the $2 million that local McDonald’s restaurant owners have already contributed to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bay Area over the past two years.